New York Life REI Buys Rare Sarasota Retail Center

The Shoppes at Sarasota Row

New York Life Real Estate Investors has acquired The Shoppes at Sarasota Row, a 59,341-square-foot shopping center in downtown Sarasota, Fla., from Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., for $24.6 million. JLL arranged the deal on behalf of the seller.

“This is a trophy-quality property and that’s becoming increasingly rare in the current retail real estate environment,” Carson Good, JLL’s managing director, told Commercial Property Executive. “Properties on this level of quality very rarely come up for sale in Florida and when they do, we’re able to pitch it right and generate a lot of interest from both institutional and private investors seeking high-quality assets and stable cash flow with minimal risk.”

The 3.9-acre property is anchored by Whole Foods, which was added to the center’s tenant roster in 2005 and includes the only Starbucks in the entirety of downtown Sarasota. At the time of the sale, the property was fully leased.

Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. originally acquired the shopping center in 2014 for $19.1 million.

“In terms of the market, this was a savvy time to sell because of the scarcity of core institutional quality shopping centers available to be bought and sold in Florida,” Good said. “When you’re the only one, you’re the prettiest girl at the dance. There was very strong interest.”

Strong walkability score

Shoppes at Sarasota Row is known for being a highly walkable area and includes one of only three free public parking garages in downtown Sarasota.

The Shoppes at Sarasota Row

According to Good, the property is amenity-rich and serves both affluent full-time and seasonal residents and hundreds of thousands of Sarasota visitors each year. It is also close by numerous shopping, dining, arts and entertainment options.

“This shopping center is within a growing, gentrifying, truly walkable, affluent coastal urban location,” he said. “It’s also really unique because you have the abundance amount of parking, which you don’t typically get in an urban setting.”

The location has a walk score of 97 and is surrounded by high-rise residential, hotels and office buildings, all of which are growing.

“Downtown Sarasota has a really thriving art scene so it’s already pretty desirable, as evident by all the condominiums and luxury apartments getting developed all around us,” Good said. “We think there’s long-term upside given the growth of the downtown market.”

Joining Good on the deal were the firm’s Senior Vice President Tarik Bateh and Senior Associate Dan Williams.

In October, Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. acquired a Class A, single-tenant office building in Albuquerque, N.M., for $44 million from Forest City Realty Trust. 

Image courtesy of JLL